


Werewolves Need Cuddles Too

by Madd4the24



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst and Humor, Communication Failure, M/M, Mates, Not Canon Compliant, Pack Dynamics, hopeless teenage boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-11
Updated: 2012-08-12
Packaged: 2017-11-11 22:55:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 18,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/483806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madd4the24/pseuds/Madd4the24
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Something strange is going on with Scott and Isaac. </p>
<p>Isaac just wants Scott to love him and wants awesome hugs. Isaac gives awesome hugs. </p>
<p>Scott just wants to figure out why Isaac smells like home and likes to sneak attack/cuddle him so much. </p>
<p>Both of them could fix this communication fail if they'd just talk once in a while instead of cuddling so much.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> NOT CANON COMPLIANT. At least I'm going to assume this to be the case. This was written in between 2.11 and 2.12, which means by the time the season finale airs on Monday, most of this will be moot as canon. That said, I'm taking several liberties here by ASSUMING that Gerard is going to die at some point, and be defeated. I'm also going with the running theory that Peter will flounce off into the night at some point and leave the Derek and the wolves alone, and it pretty much looked like Boyd isn't going to survive into the season finale, so in this fic, he didn't. 
> 
> And just for shits and giggles, Stiles and Derek are pretty established as a couple by this point in the fic, and have been for a short amount of time.

“Do you remember kindergarten?”

With an amused expression Scott looked over to Isaac, his shoulders lifting up in an ambiguous answer. Isaac hadn’t turned when he’d asked his question and he’d caught Scott off guard, and now all that was visible in the low light of the foyer was his angular profile. Like always, Isaac was almost impossible for Scott to read.

“No?”

“Was that a question?” Isaac chuckled. His head tilted a little, nostrils flailing in the slightest. Scott could almost feel the way Isaac was scenting the air, searching for something that Scott couldn’t figure out. But then his eye caught the way that Isaac’s adam’s apple bobbed, and he felt a little dazed. It was a feeling that had been creeping up on him recently, especially when Isaac was near. “Well?” Isaac pressed, and Scott flushed.

“I mean,” Scott struggled to say, “a little, I guess. I was six. I remember snack time, and we had these awesome cots that folded away from the wall in the back of the classroom that we got to have nap time on. That’s mostly was I remember.”

They were standing almost shoulder to shoulder at the large front window that overlooked the yard. It afforded them both the perfect view of the front driveway in which a spectacle was currently taking place, but all Scott could dwell on was the way that Isaac was so much taller than him, and how when they stood so close, he felt dwarfed. Isaac wasn’t huge, Scott noted, but his shoulders were broad, and he was lanky in a fit way, and falling into Isaac’s shadow just sort of happened naturally. He felt almost engulfed by Isaac, and until that moment, he might have thought it would have bothered him. But being so physically encompassed made him feel almost protected, or safe within the bounds of his pack. It felt right.

Isaac clarified, “When you’re in kindergarten they make you sit in a specific place, and it doesn’t matter who your friends are, you don’t really have a choice. But during recess it’s different, right? You can go and play with whoever you want, and you get to interact with people you wouldn’t normally in the classroom.”

A little sullen, Scott said, “Before Peter, before he …” He took a deep breath and Isaac surprised him by turning towards him, his chest brushing along Scott’s shoulder, the contact between them generating a new pulse of warmth. Scott was barely able to continue, “Before he bit me I had asthma. I had it my whole life, and when I went to school, I didn’t really get to have a recess, you know? I couldn’t run around like the other kids. I could never really catch my breath all the way. So recess wasn’t that awesome for me.”

With a smile Isaac lifted a hand to Scott’s shoulder, gripping him firmly. “I think you’re trying to stop me from getting to me point.”

Scott’s head cocked, and he thought unexpectedly that Isaac was breathtakingly handsome, mostly in the way that people weren’t really supposed to be outside of air brushed magazine covers and digitally enhanced images. He tried to return a smile to Isaac but all he could think of was that he’d never found another man attractive before. He wasn’t typically like Stiles who could appreciate someone’s beauty regardless of gender. Women to him were the definition of attractiveness. Or at least they had been.

A pang of sorrow crashed through his gut as he pictured Allison. She hadn’t been movie star gorgeous, or even model potential. In fact he’d heard people call her homely before, or refer to her as having the girl next door look. Above average, Scott had heard, but nothing spectacular. Still, to him she’s been the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen . And after her he’d never thought it would be possible to find himself attracted to anyone else, male or female. 

But Isaac … Isaac was attractive. And in a very sexual way, if the pull in his groin was to be believed. And it was a little disconcerting, just from how different the feeling was. Still, there was no denying it. There was something pulling him towards the other wolf.

“Your point?” Scott reminded.

Isaac lifted his free hand to the window and pressed against it gently, cautious of his strength. His head gestured a little to the driveway, and to where Derek stood, pressing into Stiles’ personal space, the both of them leaning against the blue jeep that was such a staple. 

“What did you do when you were six and you liked someone, but you didn’t know how to say it?” Isaac asked. 

Scott supposed, “I ran away?”

The next time Isaac laughed it sent a feeling of content through Scott. It was almost enough to turn his knees to jelly. He wanted to sink into a warm bath and relish in the memory of the laugh, and the way it made him feel. He settled for leaning into Isaac even more, and took solace in the way the taller wolf supported him easily. 

“Some boys do that.” 

Isaac smelled like home. Not Scott’s actual house, and not his mother, but the way that home was supposed to feel. In an abstract way, like safety and security and acceptance. Kind of the way that Derek was beginning to smell, and Stiles had smelled forever. But stronger, and so intense he almost wavered on his feet.

Isaac’s mouth was dangerously close to Scott’s ear, his breath warm on his skin as he said, “But some of the boys, when they like some of the girls in their classes, push them away, because it’s the only thing they know how to do. It’s like pulling pigtails, to use the analogy.”

“I’m barely passing English this semester,” Scott mumbled, eyes closed as Isaac breathed out on him again. 

“Open your eyes.”

When he did, he could still see Stiles and Derek, and he could hear them, too. He could hear Stiles shouting, as he jabbed a finger fearlessly into Derek’s chest, “--can’t coddle me! I’m not a child. I’m a part of the pack, right? So who do you think you--” and Derek was countering, “--do what I say! This is my pack and you’re my--”

“To be fair,” Scott said with a sigh, “they’re both a little emotionally delayed.”

Isaac beamed a bit when he pulled back far enough for Scott to see his face. Scott just wanted him back close again.

“It took me a while to see it,” Isaac said, “to get it. The two of them. Derek is hard to understand sometimes, and I don’t ever understand Stiles.” 

Scott nodded mutely. 

“It’s the way they act that I do understand now,” Isaac added, head dipping with a building laugh. “They’re six years old. Can you see it? And Derek, he doesn’t know what to do. He doesn’t know how to make Stiles understand him, so he pushes him. He pulls his hair. He worries and he worries and he never says the right thing because he’s so worried. But I do get it now. I do understand.”

Scott thought Isaac was lucky, because some days, he still didn’t understand what was going on between the Alpha and his best friend. Derek had an unfortunate habit of pushing Stiles around, and Stiles liked to push back in every way that he could. “Well,” he reasoned, “I guess two people who are so different, can be good for each other.” And stranger things had happened. Stranger things were still bound to happen in Beacon Hills, so maybe Stiles and Derek weren’t such a stretch. Even if Scott didn’t get it. 

“You know what they are, right?”

“Dynamite waiting to explode?” Scott joked.

Scott almost nose dived. He clutched awkwardly to Isaac’s forearm as the other teen nosed his head playfully. “You can smell it.” Isaac was being … affectionate, and it wasn’t that Scott hadn’t thought him possible of it, but it was hard to get used to. It had been happening more frequently now, ever since Boyd had died, and Scott had submitted to Derek. Since Gerard had almost destroyed them all.

“Smell?”

Isaac nudged him again with his nose, breathing in deep with a content sound. “You can smell what they are, if you want to. You’ve been avoiding it. You’ve been ignoring it.”

“Ignoring …” His mouth clamped shut and he listened to Derek say, “--think you’re invincible, idiot, but you’re not. If anything happened to you I would--” and there was something very telling in the way Derek held Stiles so stiffly against the jeep, bracketing him in. 

“Take a deep breath,” Isaac urged. “And don’t be afraid of the truth.”

He’d sort of known it all along, but Isaac had been right. He wasn’t ready to admit it, he had been avoiding it. It wasn’t just the way that Derek and Stiles acted, it was the smell. The smell of …

“They smell like each other,” Scott concluded. And not because they were having sex, Scott could smell the difference. There was something complex about the way they smell of each other, inherent and animalistic. 

Isaac provided, “Like what they are. Mates.”

Scott inclined towards him. “Yeah.”

“But you don’t seem surprised.”

He had to say, “No. They’ve kind of … at least Stiles, he’s always kind of smelled like Derek. I couldn’t figure it out at first, when they weren’t spending much time together.”

Isaac thumbed back to the pair in the driveway. “Even if Derek didn’t know what was happening either, he’s been marking Stiles for a long time. But I think he’s getting it now. It would be hard for him not to, especially now that Stiles is pack, and Derek is starting to act like an Alpha.”

“Finally got it together,” Scott observed. “Sometimes I think we were all just waiting for him. We’ve always been his, but we’ve been waiting for him to be ready for us.”

“Agreed.” Isaac’s hand tightened on Scott’s shoulder comfortingly. “A wolf can’t be ready for a mate, especially an Alpha, until they’re at peace with themselves. And every wolf wants a mate. It’s what we want more than anything else, so I think that’s why we spend so much time brooding and feeling sorry for ourselves and trying to work our problems out. So we’re ready, and we can recognize our mates when they’re in front of us.”

Eyes narrowing, Scott asked, “How do you know all this? Have you been talking to Doctor Deaton?”

Isaac’s hand left Scott’s shoulder, and it came up to rest on the back of Scott’s neck patiently. “When you get there, Scott, when you’re at peace with yourself, you just know these things. I know, it doesn’t sound fair that you only know once you get there, but it’s true. I think you’re almost there, if it’s an consolation. I think you started to accept yourself fully as a werewolf when you accepted our pack.”

It was strange to accept, but things had changed for him since Gerard had tried to rip Derek’s pack to little pieces, and absolutely everyone associated with him. Things had seemed … more clear. More focused. He felt a bond with Erica and Derek and Isaac, and even Lydia that he’d never felt before. Even Jackson was … someone he wanted to protect. They were his brothers and sisters, and when it became clear how much they mattered to him, everything else cleared up as well. As well as his mistakes.

“Allison …”

“I thought you didn’t like to talk about her,” Isaac said, voice grating in a way that said he didn’t want to talk about her either. 

Scott swallowed hard. “I loved her. I really did. And I still care about her, even if she hates me, even if she tried to kill my pack. The love I felt for her, that doesn’t just go away over night, if it goes away at all. I still want to protect her. I know that sounds stupid. It probably is stupid. But I’ll try and protect her for the rest of my life.”

“She tried to kill you.” It felt like Isaac was bringing him closer, but his hand tightened in a sort of reprimand. “If she tries again, I’ll kill her. If I don’t, Derek will.”

Scott gave Isaac a push, distancing them, angry and upset. “And what will that do?” he demanded. “Start another fight with the Argents? Haven’t we lost enough people? Derek’s whole family? Allison’s mother? We’re never going to be allies, but we don’t have to be enemies. Allison’s grandfather manipulated her into doing what he wanted. He tried to turn her into a monster, and she was hurting so bad from loosing her mom, it wasn’t her fault. We have to stop this, Isaac, before everyone is dead. We deserve some peace.”

Isaac, hands balled at his side, remarked, “You’re a good delta.”

“Excuse me?” Scott sputtered. “Delta?”

“You should talk to Derek more,” Isaac told him. “Learn the differences in your pack.”

“But I thought--”

“That there were only Alphas and betas?” Isaac shook his head. “And the lone omega that you gave being a try? There are deltas too, Scott. They’re just less common than betas. They’re … Derek made it seem like they’re caregivers when we talked about it. They look out for the pack’s emotional well being, and protect their familial bonds. Betas may be powerhouses, but deltas are the real protectors. If Stiles were a wolf, he’d be a delta.”

“Delta,” Scott echoed. “Huh.”

Isaac dared to slide back closer. “Try it on for size. It’s a good designation.”

Scott shrugged and cleared his throat. “But about Allison. About her.”

“Yeah?”

It felt good to say, “She isn’t my mate.”

Isaac cracked a pearly white smile. “We all knew, Scott. Everyone but you.”

His head hung low, and he felt his eyes burn a little bit, like he wanted to shed tears over his first true love, but absolutely couldn’t. “I really thought she was. That’s why I fought for her, for so long. It’s why I kept trying to make it work, and kept defying Derek, and put her ahead of my pack.”

Gently, Isaac eased out, “We weren’t your pack back then.”

“Could have been,” Scott said. “We could have been pack from the beginning.”

Isaac’s cheek brushed the top of Scott’s head, and Scott let it happen, desperate for the attention. “I don’t think so.”

“Allison,” Scott mused. “I almost let her ruin everything, because I wanted to be loved. Because I wanted to be normal.”

Isaac grunted, pulling Scott closer. Scott wondered if this was a fabled puppy pile, the kind that Stiles was always teasing he expected to walk in on.

“We barely go through this,” Scott said. “We barely survived, and Boyd didn’t. What happens the next time something like this--”

“We’re weak,” Isaac conceded, and out the window Stiles was wrapped around Derek in a rare display of public affection. “Not broken. If I learned anything from you from all this, it’s that people can get through just about anything, if they know others are depending on them. Well, our pack is depending on us. What Derek and Stiles have is new and weak, and they need to be able to nurture it for a while. And Lydia barely got through Peter coming back. Jackson might be all wolf now, but he’s fighting us even harder than before, and Erica?”

Scott’s eyes went up to the ceiling automatically, imaging her up in the room she’d claimed for herself in the slowly restored Hale house. Boyd’s death, and her own attempted defection from the pack had hit hard. Scott’s mom called it post traumatic syndrome, and Scott knew she’d only come back to them because she’d had to. She wasn’t happy, there was little acceptance on her part, and she was struggling more and more each day. 

“We’re weak,” Isaac reiterated, “and we were weak before Gerard. He just helped point out our weakness, I guess.”

“So we have to look out for each other,” Scott said, more serious about the matter than he’d been about anything else. “We’re all we have. Stiles’ dad barely wants to let him out of his sight anymore, and my mom thinks that she can find a cure for me--she thinks I want to be cured. You and Derek, you don’t have …” he tried to find a way to put it delicately, but with an apologetic look finally ended up saying, “you guys don’t have anyone but us. No one is going to understand Lydia and Jackson or Erica like us, either. So all we have is each other. We’re family. We’re pack. Even if some of us don’t want the help, we have to be here to give it anyway.”

“Good delta,” Isaac said, smile cracking so wide it looked like it hurt.

“I have a good pack,” Scott replied.

Sometimes he felt in complete control, as if he’d never been bitten, and was completely normal like Stiles. Some days there were no urges and no weird feelings and when he looked at Isaac he just saw friend, and nothing else.

And then there were moment like these, when his heart was beating at a normal pace, but so strongly in his chest as Isaac encroached on his personal space, that he knew he was different, and could never be normal again. When Isaac’s face pressed into his neck, nose as the juncture of his collar bone, and Scott’s toes curled wonderfully pleased, he never wanted to be normal. This was his packmate, his brother, and something else that he couldn’t place. This was Isaac, scenting him, letting others know that he was important to him, and giving him the kind of protection that they could only give each other.

“Isaac,” Scott said, a little breathy, but mostly happy. He liked the way Isaac had to lean down into him, and the way his arms fit across Isaac’s strong shoulders.

“We will protect each other,” Isaac vowed, lips skimming against the building stubble at the base of Scott’s jaw as he nosed his way up his neck. “We will protect our pack.”

Scott nodded silently, eyes back to the window as Derek and Stiles mirrored his own position with Isaac. His Alpha met his gaze, and maybe Derek had heard their exchange, it was possible, Derek was very good with multitasking. 

“Nothing,” Scott said firmly and without hesitation, “is more important than pack.”

“You’re almost there,” Isaac urged, and Scott thought he was wrong. He still felt a mess. He still wasn’t whole. He didn’t even feel close.

The horn to Stiles’ jeep sounded, and Scott guessed that was his cue to leave, but he couldn’t bring himself to be the one to let go first. 

Eventually Isaac released him, but not before Scott thought he felt the barest hint of tongue against his artery. And by the time Scott came back to his senses Isaac was several feet away, looking nonchalant with his hands in his jean pockets and a hopeful look on his face.

Scott drifted over to the sofa where he’d left his backpack after coming directly from school. He hooked it over one shoulder and said pointedly, “My mom was serious, you know. You should come and stay with us. We have a spare room, and it might do you some good to be closer to town instead of all the way out here. Social services wouldn’t be poking around, either.”

Isaac shook his head easily. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

“Why not?” Scott wanted to know. “You could stay in my room, too, if you want. Whatever you want.”

“What I want,” Isaac chuckled. “I don’t think you’re ready for that yet.”

Scott was still puzzled as the jeep horn sounded again. 

“I think that’s your ride,” Isaac teased. His face sobered after that, and he said earnestly, “But tell your mom thanks, again. For the offer, I mean, but I need to be here right now. I need to be close to Erica, and Derek, and for when Lydia and Jackson feel like they can come looking for the answers to the questions they have.”

“Are you absolutely sure?” Scott asked. There was some odd, overwhelming urge deep in his chest to keep Isaac near him. To protect him. Maybe just to be able to see him. Scott wasn’t sure. He’d always wanted to keep Allison safe, but it had never been an urge like this, unidentifiable in its ferocity. “My mom is almost not mad enough at me over the whole werewolf thing to give me car privileges back. And I come out here almost every day after school anyway. Plus, Stiles practically lives here now that he and Derek are sucking face. You could get a ride with one of us.”

Isaac reinforced, “I need to be here. You will too, eventually.”

“Okay,” Scott said slowly. “So … I’ll see you at school tomorrow?”

Isaac nodded encouragingly and walked Scott to the door. Isaac was still standing there, watching him when Stiles looked at him incredulously and demanded, “What took so long?”

Scott huffed a little and climbed into the passenger seat, remarking, “I wait for you to finish with Derek all the time.”

“And you think I didn’t play third wheel to you and Allison all the time?”

The thing was, Scott thought that comment probably should have hurt, but when he’d been in love with Allison, he’d been a crappy friend to Stiles. He’d put Stiles second a lot of the time, mostly because he’d been so blinded by his raging hormones. Stiles shouldn’t have come second, because he’d always know deep inside that Stiles was there before Allison, and had his back no matter what. Stiles knew the lifestyle they were knee deep in, and understood the sacrifices. Stiles understood. That was worth more than anything else. So he should have known, and he shouldn’t have put Stiles second because he was excited to lose his v-card. 

“Sorry,” he ground out, offering Isaac the smallest of waves as Stile started the car and pulled away. 

“Me too,” Stiles offered, after a moment’s hesitation. 

They were halfway back into town when Scott worked up enough courage to ask Stiles, “So about you and Derek?”

“Yeah?” Stiles hands were gripping the wheel tightly, fingers only letting up to curl out and then back in, a sign of nervousness. 

“Do you think you guys are going to work out?”

Stiles gave him a flat look. “If you’re asking will it break up the pack if mommy and daddy can’t make it work, the answer is no.” His eyes narrowed. “And I’m not mommy, in this instance. I’m all about letting my pups go off and learn their lessons. Derek’s the one who wants to coddle you.”

“Just be careful, okay? I don’t want to see you get hurt, and I don’t want the pack to get hurt, either. Isaac said we’re weak right now, fragile, and I agree.”

“You and Isaac huh?” Stiles’ eyebrows rose.

“What?” Scott demanded, unsure what the look was supposed to mean. 

“Nothing,” Stiles whistled out. 

“What?”

“You guys are pretty good friends now, aren’t you?”

Scott relaxed down into his seat. “He was there for me, especially for that mess with Gerard. You went missing, and Boyd and Erica defected, and Derek was too busy fighting with Peter to keep track of everyone. Isaac was the only one who stayed and helped me fight, at least the only one without a little push. He did it on his own, because he cared about this pack. A guy can bond with another guy over impending death like that. Don’t we all the time?”

“Fair enough,” Stiles laughed. “You don’t have to defend your platonic friend boner to me that you have for Isaac.”

“Boner?” Scott asked, startled. 

Carefully, more cautiously than Stiles usually talked, he asked Scott, “He’s important to you, right? You care about him?”

Scott felt a little helpless. “Of course. What do you--”

“Derek,” Stiles interrupted, “is a pain in my ass. Like herpes, Scott. Listen up, okay? Derek is like herpes, which I get, that’s a shitty analogy, but it’s true. He’s for life. He’s a giant pain in my ass, and there’s no getting rid of him, but you kind of get used to it. You get used to being followed around, and worried after. And if anyone ever tried to take him from me, I’d run them over with my jeep.”

Scott was still trying to work out if Stiles was joking about the last bit. 

Stiles said, “I’m not a wolf, and I don’t want to be one. I’m happy being human, even if it leaves me feeling helpless an inadequate at times. But I still get this weird feeling in my chest when I’m with him. You know, dude, it’s like when you’re little and you go on your first sleepover, and you’re really excited for it, but then it’s the middle of the night and you start missing your mom so bad you just want to cry. It’s like that, good and bad. It’s this feeling that lets me know Derek is special to me. And it doesn’t matter if I can’t pin down why, exactly. He’s special and he’s mine and I’ll be damned if anyone gets to take him from me. You kind of feel that way about Isaac?”

“I feel …” Why did it matter how it felt? Stiles and Derek were mates. They were going to be together for life and share everything. He and Isaac were … packmates and friends and … “We’re …” They were certainly building towards something, but Scott couldn’t say what it was, and didn’t want to. He found Isaac attractive, and there was a connection that they shared that was just for them, but what else, he couldn’t say. He wasn’t looking for a boyfriend. He wasn’t looking to confirm his bisexuality. He only wanted to prioritize, and that meant friends and pack, both of which happened to be the same thing. 

“You don’t know?” Stiles asked. 

“I don’t know,” he confirmed.

They turned from the dirt road that led to Derek’s house, back onto the main road into town. “Doesn’t matter,” Stiles brushed off. “Hey, did you know Isaac and Danny are going up to Tahoe this break? Derek gave him the okay. I think Danny is determined to get Isaac laid. He knows a guy. Says he’ll be sweet on Isaac.”

“What?” Scott said sharply. 

“Wolves get all this pent up stress,” Stiles continued. “Lydia and Jackson have each other to work it out, but who does Isaac have right now? I think getting laid will--hey!” Stiles jerked the jeep to a stop. “What the hell are you doing?”

Scott looked down suddenly and he could see that his claws had popped. He hadn’t even felt them, or how they’d begun to dig into both his jeans and the upholstery of the jeep. 

“Sorry!” Scott shook his hands, trying to get control of his wolf, unsure of when it had surged to the surface. “I don’t know what’s going on.”

“Huh.” Stiles cracked a grin. “That’s what I thought.”

“What?”

Stile shook his head. “You should talk to Derek about how you feel about Isaac, even if you’re not sure what you’re feeling. Plus, dude, I’m not a wolf, but even I can smell Isaac all over you. Derek scents me for a reason. Chew on that.”

Talking with Stiles just left Scott confused and anxious. Thankfully, everything seemed to settle down by the following morning. He’d forgotten his math homework the night before and bumbled his way through it in Stiles’ jeep that morning before class. Lunch was normal, sitting across from Stiles like always, with Allison glaring daggers at him from near Jackson’s table. And then there was lacrosse practice after school. He saw Isaac in his chemistry class, and then passing in the halls, but there was no real contact until after lacrosse practice was done and they were all headed into the locker room to change. 

Stiles bailed early for family time with his father and Derek, something he assured Scott he wasn’t looking forward to, and Scott took his time getting stripped of his sweaty clothes and into the shower. He preferred to have some privacy, if only to avoid getting roped into some of the freshman hazing that was still happening on occasion. 

He liked showering after practice because mostly everyone left him alone, and he could just think. Contrary to the airhead that Stiles seemed to think he was, he did a lot of his thinking in the shower, where there was peace and quiet and great smelling soap. Scott wondered if he enjoyed the smell of soap so much because of his heightened senses. 

But now, standing in the shower, he held the bar of soap in his hand and looked down at it. There was something wrong. He couldn’t figure out what it was, but he didn’t … want to use it? Something was definitely wrong. 

“Stop it,” he told himself quietly, then quickly lathered himself and tipped his head back, letting the warm water run over his body. He washed away all of his worries and all of his questions. There was nothing more important in that moment than enjoying himself after a long practice. 

The air left his body in one giant whoosh, and suddenly he was pressed up against a shower stall. He yelled loudly at the contact from his warm skin to the cold tile. And then again at the solid form pushing him up against the wall, holding him there, preventing him from moving.

“Stop,” a voice growled, and Scott froze, placing the tone and voice.

“Isaac?” 

It took him a few more seconds to realize there was a leg lodged between his own, and Isaac’s mouth was at the back of his neck, up near his hairline, biting at the skin. He could feel teeth, and tongue and pressure and even a bit of pain.

“What’re you doing?” Scott demanded. He reached back, feeling for the teenager, and his fingers caught the material of Isaac’s shirt. But he couldn’t bring himself to push him away. If anything, he felt himself dragging Isaac closer, urging him to press harder and with more contact. “Isaac?”

“I don’t … I don’t know,” Isaac confessed, mouthing his way down to his shoulder. “I just … you were …”

Scott hedged a little to the side, and his foot kicked the soap he’d dropped. 

Isaac sounded so unsure, maybe even scared, and something in Scott’s chest protested that. Isaac was meant to be strong and proud and capable. He was meant to be a match for Scott, and nothing ever less. He couldn’t let Isaac be less.

“It’s okay,” Scott promised, trying to offer what comfort he could.

“I’m sorry,” Isaac said, voice wavering.

There was just enough leeway, just enough room for Scott to force his body around, and then he had Isaac in his arms, shaking and spewing out a litany of apologies and explanations that made no sense. 

Scott found his arms folded instinctually around Isaac, urging him to stay where he was. “It’s okay, Isaac. I swear.”

He smelled so good. He smelled like home, again, and sweat and masculinity and grass. All of the smells that Scott coveted and liked the best. But better than that, as wretched as the situation as the situation was, with Isaac feeling so weak against him, it was the happiest Scott had felt in weeks. The most content. And it was Isaac making him feel that way. Isaac. 

Isaac straightened up, voice clearing and his clothing now soaked from the stream of water that was just barely hitting them. “I … I don’t know what I was--”

For what felt like the million time, Scott said, “It’s okay.” Even thought it probably shouldn’t have been. They were in the back, corner stall which offered some protection from the boys who had lingered, but not much, and anyone could have walked in on them at that moment and mistaken the situation. It wasn’t okay, Scott knew, but then it felt like it was, and he was so dizzy from the notion that all he could do was stroke his hand up against the back of Isaac’s head while Isaac worried his neck with his teeth once more. 

“What is this?” Scott wondered, and he hadn’t realized he’d spoken aloud until Isaac made a confused noise.

Isaac tore himself away. It was so quick and without warning, and Scott almost lost his footing as the water drained around him. 

“Isaac …” His packmate looked like he’d done something forgivable. Like he’d lost control, which was crazy because Derek always said Isaac had the best control out of all of them. “What’s going on?”

“There were so many,” Isaac gasped out, nearly across to the far shower as his eyes flashed amber. “So many smells. And then there were none.” Scott took a tentative step forward but Isaac made a concerned sound and reinstated the distance between them, comanding, “No! Stop! Don’t … don’t come any closer.”

Scott brought himself up to his full height, posture rigid. “You won’t hurt me,” he said confidently. “If that’s what you’re afraid of, don’t be. Now, you said something about smelling.”

Isaac gripped his hair tightly, bending forward to hunch protectively in. “I don’t know what’s wrong. It’s never been this strong before. I’ve never been this out of control. I could smell them all over you. And then I couldn’t smell myself. I don’t understand what’s happening. Why it’s happening like this. I have to go.”

Isaac made to leave and Scott was certain he’d lost the ability to speak. He could barely move. He was terrified of what had just happened, and what it meant for them. 

What had just happened?

As Isaac fled the locker room, a couple of the guys down by their lockers staring on, Scott let out a heavy breath. He certainly wasn’t surprised to find that his hands had clawed of their own accord, and if he hazarded a look in the mirror, he had a good idea what color his eyes would be. He was loosing control too, just like Isaac, and neither of them seemed to know why.

Once his fingers were normal again, if a little pruny, he brought them up to the back of his neck where Isaac had nearly gnawed on him. The skin was tender and probably red. 

Wolves scented each other all the time, particularly packmates. That was nothing out of the ordinary. On more than one occasion he’d been tangled up with Isaac and Derek, or some combination of his other pack members, all learning each others scents, and spreading their own. It was the best way to protect each other from outside threats, and a good bonding method. It linked them all together, to be so familiar with each other.

But what Isaac had done felt different than the normal scenting Scott had participated in in the past. He’d had small bites and nicks to his skin before, and even shyly given kisses that were platonic in nature, but nothing like what Isaac had just done to him. 

“Yo, McCall!” a voice called out, one of the other players on the team. “Was that Lahey? What was that all about?”

Scott bought his head around the side of the stall and replied, “He had an emergency.”

He slid back out of sight and let himself sink down to the floor of the stall, unconcerned with his lack of clothing or the cleanliness of the floor. He brought his knees up a bit and took in several more ragged breaths. 

Stiles was right.

He had to talk to Derek. Derek might know. And if he didn’t, he was Alpha, and Alpha protected the pack. He’d help them. 

The problem was, of course, that Scott had been horribly turned on by the encounter with Isaac in the showers. And from that he was feeling embarrassed. So as much as he wanted answers, and knew Derek could help, he wasn’t ready.

In light of that he thought his best option was just to keep his head down at school as much as he could, shower at home after practice and certainly not go anywhere near Hale house where Isaac lived. It was a good plan and Scott was saving the emotional shitstorm that he imagined figuring out everything would be for the weekend when there’d be more time for pack problems. 

It was all moot point when Isaac wasn’t in school on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. 

Scott asked Stiles and his best friend only responded, “Derek just said Isaac wasn’t feeling good, and then he said not to come over and growled at me that he was serious. It must be. Friday is our bootycall night.”

Scott choked a little on his sports drink. “I did not need to know that!”

Stiles shrugged. “You and the other puppies usually go snuggle together or go run or something. Derek and I make ample use of his car. But let me tell you, we need a new plan, because if I get the gearshift in my back one more time I give up.”

“Can we please focus!” He tried not to let it show, but he was a little desperate for information on Isaac. His stomach was all twisted up over what had happened, but even more over not being able to make sure that Isaac was okay. He just needed to see him. To smell him. 

“I think it’s a puppy problem,” Stiles said. “It must be. Derek doesn’t want me over when it is. I think he’s afraid one of the pack is going to lose control around me. It’s a precautionary measure I fully endorse.”

“Okay,” Scott sighed. 

Stiles reminded, “Did your mom want you hone early today?”

Scott groaned. 

“You okay?” his mother asked him when he was home fifteen minutes later. She pressed a hand to his forehead and frowned at him.

“I can’t get sick,” he told her weakly. “And before you ask, I’m fine.”

He collapsed face first on his bed and thought he was anything but that. 

Saturday he spent most of the day with Doctor Deaton, and Stiles reported, “Derek says you can come over after school on Monday,” but it wasn’t really a relief. If this was a pack problem, whatever had happened between him and Isaac, he deserved to be there to deal with it. Being banned by the Alpha until a certain date stung.

Doctor Deaton offered, “Think of it this way, your Alpha is trying to protect you. Whatever is happening with his beta, he’s dealing with it personally to protect the rest of the pack from the consequences.”

That only made him mad. “I don’t need to be protected!” 

“Maybe not from a physical threat. Been having trouble controlling your urge to shift lately, Scott?”

“Maybe,” he said evasively. “What would it mean if I am?” 

“Wait for you Alpha,” Deaton advised. “And look for the common thread in each instance.”

It was the first time he was forced to admit it, but he said, “I haven’t had an anchor in a while. Is that why?” Allison had been his anchor. His love for her. The future he envisioned them having, with a couple of brown haired kids and a house in the suburbs with a weapons locker in the basement. When Allison had fled from his life, so had his anchor. 

“Not all wolves need an anchor,” Deaton said knowingly. “Most, yes, but not all. Mated wolves don’t, for instance. Theirs in inherent at that point, provided their mate is currently alive.”

“I don’t have a mate,” Scott protested. 

Deaton added, “Potential mates can have the same effect. Probable mates. Good matches. It just depends.”

Scott shuffled back to the front office to finish some of his paperwork. 

Stiles had said Derek thought it was okay to come over after school on Monday. Scott couldn’t. Isaac was mysteriously missing from both Chem and practice, though Stiles said that Isaac was there at school, and when Scott tried, he could smell a trace of the boy all over the school.

After the end of practice he physically couldn’t bring himself to go to Derek’s. He told himself he wasn’t avoiding Derek and Isaac, but he was. He told Stiles he wasn’t feeling well, and then curled up in bed at five in the evening with the air conditioner running at full blast. He ignored the way his cell phone rang throughout the rest of the day and thought hard about what Deaton had said. 

The only linking factor in all of the instances that he could recall, not that there had been that many of them, was Isaac. And no matter what, Scott didn’t want Isaac to be the problem. He couldn’t handle that.

Apparently he couldn’t handle being away from Isaac any more than he’d already been, and neither could Isaac bear it. Scott startled awake, and he wasn’t sure when he’d crashed, to find there was a warm form plastered to his back. Something that warm could only be werewolf.

“You didn’t come to Derek’s,” Isaac accused. “He said you could.”

“You weren’t at school last week. You didn’t come to Chem today. Or practice.”

Scott could only smell himself and Isaac. There was nothing else, not the scent of his mom’s perfume or the hint of Stiles from the video game he’d left at Scott’s earlier that weekend. Gone was the fabric softener his mom used on the sheets and the Glade freshener across the room that she tried to use to cover up the smell of his laundry. In fact, it was really only Isaac he could smell. Almost overbearing in the odd scent. 

“I’ve been …” Isaac tried, “been trying to keep my distance from you. I lost control before. I almost … I didn’t want to do that again. Not to you. Never to you.”

Scott kept his eyes locked on the white wall in front of him, even as he pressed back into Isaac’s hold. “What happened that day? What’s happening right now?”

Isaac rubbed his forehead against the back of Scott’s head. “You should let Derek explain. He’d the one who figured it out when I told him. He’d be better at it.”

Scared, Scott said, “I’ve been losing control, too. Are you sure Derek will know?”

Isaac nodded. 

Scott was quiet for a while, trying to work his thoughts out. And then he asked, “Are we okay?”

They were packmates. They were allies. And though it was recent, they were also friends. Whatever else they were, didn’t matter. 

“Yes.”

“Okay.” Scott tried to wriggle down a little, and in response Isaac clutched him tighter. Scott soothed, “I’m not going anywhere. I promise. It’s okay.”

“You’re so good, Scott. So good.”

He felt so sleepy again, wrapped up in Isaac’s hold, surrounded by soft blankets and softer sheets. Their feet tangled together and he barely had the energy to ask, “Good? Huh?”

A gentle kiss pressed against his neck, unexpected but not unwanted. Scott felt his wolf curl contently in him, and it was then that he realized whenever he’d been in contact with Isaac, and it had felt odd or unexplained, he’d been the one with the problem, and certainly not the raging wolf in him. His wolf adored Isaac, and was probably responsible for urging him to trust Isaac to begin with. His wolf wanted Isaac near, and Scott was beginning to think it was his wolf who needed him. 

“I want you here,” Scott said sleepily, head turning as far as it could to see Isaac a bit. “You always run.”

“I’m not running anymore,” Isaac promised, nuzzling him. “I ran because I was scared.”

“Why would you be scared?” He found himself meeting Isaac’s playful nudges, and he returned them, their noses brushing and bumping lightly. “Of me?”

Isaac mumbled, tongue trailing the underside of Scott’s jaw, “Don’t deserve you.”

Scott was delta. He’d been omega before. And Isaac was beta. Neither of them would ever be Alpha. And yet, regardless, Scott found himself elongating his neck as far as he could, giving Isaac access to the skin there, opening himself up as far as he could, presenting himself as vulnerable. He felt Isaac catch his fingers and twine them as the tongue was joined by teeth and Scott sighed happily. 

“You’re crazy,” Scott declared, startled by the rush of blood as Isaac set to work on his skin. “I’m just--”

“Perfect,” Isaac finished.

Scott dozed after that, his wolf more in control than it had ever been. When he’d been with Allison, even with her as his anchor, he’d been terrified it would get loose. He’d never completely mastered it. He’d never been certain he was in charge of the two of them. But now, being with Isaac, he realized his mistake. He realized what Isaac had been talking about when he’d spoke of accepting his wolf. It had never been about separating the two of them.

By the time he woke up he could smell dinner drifting up the stairs and into his room via his cracked door. But more importantly he was alone. He gave the air a tiny sniff and was happy to find Isaac’s smell was still the most heavy in the room, all over his clothing and his skin and his sheets. It was enough. Tomorrow he’d go and get to the bottom of the truth. For now it would have to be enough.


	2. Chapter Two

“So I think I’m sexually attracted to Isaac.”

Stiles snorted loudly, catching himself in a laugh and hugging his stomach as he tried to keep his balance on the hood of the jeep. Next to him Scott was not impressed, but he kept his silence in light of it. He’d spent the entire previous night rolling the idea over in his head, and he was confident in his conclusion. It was true. He was sexually attracted to Isaac. And then some.

“I’m sexually attracted to Isaac too!” Stiles laughed, elbowing Scott in the ribs. “Dude, I think my dad might be sexually attracted to him. Everyone is. Do you get what I’m saying? He’s gorgeous. It’s like when old Barney gives Derek the once over at the post office. Some people are just good looking, man, beyond their gender. When it comes to werewolves, that’s really usually the case.”

Scott protested, “But I’ve never been attracted to a guy before.”

Stiles raised an eyebrow. “Not even Danny? Because you have to admit, Danny is pretty hot.”

“Not even Danny,” Scott laughed. 

They’d cut school. Only the last couple of periods, actually, but it felt good to be out of the long halls, and just hanging out with each other halfway to Derek’s house. Scott missed the days when they’d cut their last period and just drive out into the woods and talk. Sometimes a guy just needed to talk to his best friend, especially with the kind of lives that they had.

Later on he actually planned to go to Derek’s house, maybe in a couple of hours. He knew Isaac would be waiting for him, and Derek, and he’d get answers. He hoped they were something he wanted to hear. 

Abruptly, Stiles asked, “You going to go there with him?”

Scott felt a little shaken, as if the notion hadn’t even crossed his mind, despite his earlier confession. “Go there?”

“Make a move,” Stiles elaborated. “Because honestly, Scott, when you have someone that hot into you, don’t stand around like a dofus. Tap it.”

Scott shoved Stiles hard enough to force him off the car. “You lost your virginity four weeks ago and suddenly you think you’re a master at it?”

“Dude!” Stiles eyed him warily. “Can you like, smell virginity?”

“No.” Scott shook his head. “But we could all smell Derek on you after, on a whole different level.”

Stiles looked contemplative. 

“So,” Scott hedged. “You’re absolutely sure Isaac likes me? As in, using your words, wants me to tap him? Because we’re packmates, Stiles, and you can’t go on what you just see. We’re always going to be really physical with each other. We’re closer than any family you’ll ever find. The way we touch each other--”

Stiles reached over and flicked Scott hard in the ear. “I have excellent detective skills, McCall. And there’s a difference in behavior in you two, even if you can’t see it. Plus, didn’t you say he ambushed you in the shower at school on Tuesday? Aside from that being super creepy and completely inappropriate, it’s saying something.”

“He didn’t do anything!” Scott felt his heart ache painfully. “It was fine!”

“I’m not saying he groped you.” Stiles heaved himself back up on the hood of the jeep. “Unless he did, and if he did, and you didn’t like it, I’m so telling Derek.”

He had liked it. Buried underneath the confusion and uncertainly, he’d loved the way Isaac had manhandled him, dragging him around, taking control, asserting himself. What did that say about him as a person? What did that say about him as a wolf?

“Isaac is just working through some stuff.” Scott ran a hand across his brow. “So am I. We weren’t like this before, but we are now. It’s confusing.”

Stiles leaned his elbows on his knees and cocked his head towards Scott, watching him for a moment, clearly trying to work something out in his mind. Scott wasn’t sure he was ever going to say anything, not until he eased out, “Be careful with Isaac?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Don’t hurt him.” Stiles rubbed sweaty palms on his jeans. “I don’t want him to hurt you, either, but you’re way more likely to hurt him first. So just be careful if you can. Isaac is kind of messed up. Derek said he’s more emotionally stunted than any of the pack, and if he’s more messed up than Derek, then you have to be careful.”

Soberly, Scott guessed, “Because of his dad?”

“I guess,” Stiles said anxiously. “From what I’m getting from Derek, and god knows he’s not the most commutative, Isaac’s dad messed him up by making him think that he’s a burden, or something. I think Isaac doesn’t think he’s worth being special to anyone, especially you.”

“Especially me.” Scott couldn’t help looking down at himself at Stiles’ words. He’d never thought there was anything amazing about him, even after getting the bite. 

“So go easy on him,” Stiles demanded. “Don’t be a dick, and ask Derek if you have any questions. Be thankful you have an Alpha to ask these questions to. Derek and I had to figure these things out myself.”

“And by these things you mean--”

Nothing ever went their way. That was the truth of it. Plus, having Stiles around was always a bit of a bad luck. Over a decade of friendship and Scott still couldn’t figure out what it was about Stiles that was such bad luck. 

“What the fuck!”

Scott’s reflexes saved him, but just barely. He hit the ground seconds before the bullets hit the jeep, hands covering his head as he scented the wolfsbane. It made his stomach lurch and threaten to come up right away, and there was so much of it, not only coated in the bullets, but hanging in the air, surrounding them, seeping into the area at a desperate rate. 

“My jeep!”

Scott reached for Stiles, finding his ankle easily enough and dragging him closer. He tried to keep Stiles down as he waited for a break in the gunfire.

“Are you okay?” Scott yelled, trying to be heard over the noise. “Are you hit?”

Amber eyes were wide and frightened, but there was no hint of pain, and Scott couldn’t smell any blood. 

“Who’s shooting at us?” Stiles asked.

It was a good question. Their on again off again truce with the Argents was currently back on, and as far as Scott knew, the Argents were keeping a close eye on any other hunters that wanted to stray into town. Neither would a rival pack be using guns. 

Scott let his eyes peek up over the hood when the fire broke.

“Shit!” Stiles jerked Scott back down as bullets blew the driver side mirror off. “How about we don’t get shot!”

Scott ducked back down, face pressing close to Stiles as he relayed, “I can smell two. Strong aftershave.”

“Two?” Stiles squeaked. “There are way more than two of them!”

“I know that!” Scott hissed through his teeth. “But they’ve got wolfsbane with them. It’s all I can smell. My guess is that there are four or five of them.” And with any luck, not that they had much, not any more than that.

Stiles snapped, “I’m getting really tired of this. Can I just get one week where my life isn’t in danger? Just one?”

Feeling dizzy from the wolfsbane exposure, Scott felt compelled to pull Stiles down by the back of his neck. The pops above them let off slightly and Scott took the opportunity to hunch over Stiles, protecting him. It was all he could think of, the notion of keeping Stiles safe overriding his own self preservation instincts. Nothing else but keeping Stiles safe mattered in that moment. 

“Get off!” Stiles struggled, but Scott was stronger, and he snarled at Stiles to keep still, feeling wolfish and angry at the notion of something happening to Stiles. Not on his watch. Not his Alpha’s mate.

“Stop!” Scott barked out, maybe holding Stiles too tightly. 

The wind shifted around them and suddenly Scott could smell two more of them, rank with the scent of tobacco and dirt.

The bullets stopped.

“Scott,” Stiles whispered, “Do you think …”

“The pack is on the way,” Scott hissed back at him, but it was a stupid notion. Isaac and Erica, along with Jackson and Lydia were all still at school. There was a chance Derek had heard the gunfire, sound carried easily through the forest, but it was impossible to tell. 

Scott groaned in pain and slid off Stiles, hand pressing to his side as the metallic scent of blood flooded his nose. 

Hadn’t he already done the getting shot thing? Matt had shot him, and that was one experience he didn’t care to repeat ever again. But there was no denying the hot flash of pain against his ribs and the smell of blood, or the way that Stiles shouted for him. 

When had he been hit? And why wasn’t he beginning to feel the rush of adrenaline that usually came with his faster than normal healing?

He crashed completely down to the ground with a shout of pain, unable to hold himself up, sweating and unstable. He felt Stiles grab him by the arm and shake him, but it was hard to think, and harder to move. 

Scott was seeing double vision when he realized that there were men standing in front of them, unfamiliar to his memory, and vicious looking. They were talking to each other, but Scott could only hear the beating of his own heart, and the fast paced thumps of Stiles’ next to him. 

They were in real trouble. These men were going to kill him. But maybe, just maybe, they’d let Stiles go. Maybe they wouldn’t see him as a threat.

“Scott,” Stiles said, voice flat and worried, his face blurring as Scott blinked weakly at him. “I don’t think--”

He was wrong. Scott gasped for breath, feeling the wolfsbane in his system start to take over, and he realized he’d been wrong from the start, thinking they were after him. Thinking they wanted to kill him. For thinking that they would leave Stiles alone. 

The paralysis that had bee slowly creeping up on him before was in serious danger of completely taking control. He could only twitch along with the pain, panting and whining as he watched Stiles slide across the dirt road. His best friend was being taken from him, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

He was able to focus enough to hear one of the men ask the other, “What about this one?”

Scott had felt the burst of his fangs moments earlier, and the itch that accompanied his shift. He knew how he looked to the hunters, like a monster.

“Leave him,” a man said, gruff in his tone. "We got what we came for. This one can deliver a message.”

He wanted to lash out and slit open the belly of the man who was crouching next to his head. The man’s fingernails cut into his shoulder ruthlessly as he delivered, “We know what you are, beast. And more importantly, we know what your friend is. You be sure to let your Alpha know exactly what happened when he comes around. I’m sure he’ll be able to scent us out.”

And then they left him. The men and Stiles were gone, and Scott was alone, in pain, and his wolf was wailing as loud as it could. He’d failed Derek and shamed his pack.

Part of him hoped Derek never found him, and just left him to die.

He was being shaken awake by Isaac some time later, the teen was all but bulldozed out of the way by Derek a half second after that. Derek gripped his collar firmly and demanded, “What happened? Where’s Stiles?” There were red irises glowing at him, and Derek’s claws were easily breaking through the material of his shirt.

Scott wondered what he’d do if someone took his mate. Among wolves, and even hunters, there was little worse that could be done to a wolf. 

“We didn’t see them coming,” Scott struggled to say. Next to him Isaac was whining pitifully, daring to touch his arm, even as Derek barred his teeth, attempting to keep them all focused. 

“Who?”

“Four of them?” Scott guessed. “Maybe five. Only smelled four. They were … they shot at us.” He felt a little stupid saying it. The jeep that he was sort of braced against was riddled with bullet holes. There could be no mistaking what had happened. “I thought they wanted to kill me. It was Stiles they were after. They said it when they took him.” He had to grind his teeth against the pain. “Shot me.”

Isaac’s cheek brushed against Scott’s. “How badly? I knew I smelled blood. Didn’t know if it was yours.”

Scott yelped as Derek’s nose pushed hard into his side, smelling the wound for what it was, and reeling back with confirmation. “Wolfsbane.”

“Figured.” 

Derek released him to shout something over his shoulder, and Scott found himself sinking into Isaac’s embrace. 

“How bad?” Isaac demanded.

Derek countered by wrangling Scott up once more, issuing, “Tell me where they took him.”

For a moment there, with Scott sprawled out between the two of them, bleeding and exhausted, he thought that Isaac and Derek might come to blows. The Alpha was growling in a threatening way, and Isaac looked dead set against pushing him any further.

Derek was barely holding back, that much Scott could determine. And he’d tear all of Beacon Hills apart to get Stiles back. Scott wanted that. Maybe without the maiming and homicide, but he wanted what Stiles and Derek had. 

“I don’t know.” Scott could only shake his head. “But one of them got close to me. Touched me.” Scott’s eyes flickered to his shoulder. “Dug his nails into my skin and drew blood.”

It was all Derek needed. He was gone in a flash, Erica and Lydia hot on his tail, dashing through the woods in wolf form. He’d caught the scent. 

“Where’d they come from?” Scott asked, confused as to when the girls had appeared. Or had they always been there? It was hard to think. 

Carefully, Isaac peeled away his blood stained shirt, lifting it up and probing the wound. He replied, “Derek said he heard the shots. Erica was already with him, I guess she had the same idea as you and Stiles. She was on the phone with Lydia when Derek bolted. I was with Lydia. We all got here at about the same time. Jackson … he refused to come. He still doesn’t think of himself as part of this pack.”

Scott swallowed down the lump in his throat and his fingers clenched around the hoodie Isaac wore. “How bad is it?”

The look of relief on Isaac’s face said the most, but it was nice to hear from the boy, “There’s no entrance wound. The bullet grazed you. It was still enough contact to get the wolfsbane into your bloodstream, but you’re going to be okay.”

“It hurts.” he might have been whining, but Isaac put him at ease. He made him feel comfortable, and like he could be honest. 

“You were still shot.” Isaac cracked a smile and his mouth descended to press a chaste kiss to the corner of Scott’s mouth like it was normal, and happened all the time.

Scott blinked blearily up at him after the kiss. “Isaac?”

“I saw you there,” Isaac said with a shudder, “and I could smell your blood. I almost … I nearly lost control. If Derek had tried to stop me from getting to you, I swear, I would have tried to rip him into pieces.”

Guilt welled up in Scott over the events, and he said, “I couldn’t stop them from taking Stiles.”

“I wouldn’t have been able to do any different.”

“But he’s my friend!” The outburst left him winded and having to be soothed by Isaac. “I should have …”

“What you need to do,” Isaac said firmly, “is rest. The bullet only grazed you, and your wolfsbane poisoning isn’t as bas as it could be, but you’re going to need to rest. You’re going to be weak and in pain for a while. You have to let it work through your system, and that’s the only real option we have.”

Scoot protested, “We have to go get Stiles.”

Once more, Isaac was pressing in close, tonguing the skin at his jaw. “No. You have to let Derek do that. And the others. You have to rest. I’m taking you back to Derek’s place.”

“My mom--”

“I’ll call her,” Isaac assured. “But you need to rest.” It was a little tricky, but Isaac was just tall enough to gain some real leverage on Scott and boost him up into his arms. Scott wanted to protest, and he did grunt a little at the motion, but he was quiet for the most part, content to be held by Isaac, even carried.

Scott decided, “You should leave me. Go after Stiles.”

Isaac made a sound that sounded suspiciously like a snort of disbelief. “You’re crazy if you think I’m leaving you like this. You come first.” And that didn’t make any sense to Scott. They were driven by a pack urge to protect Stiles, and for Derek’s sake, to keep anything from happening to him. The idea that Isaac would brush that responsibility off so easily, and for him, was weird.

They were already on their way by the time Scott realized where Isaac was taking him. 

“Derek’s car?” Maybe the pain was making him more loopy than he thought. 

Isaac chuckled. “How else did you think we were going to get back to the house? Plus, Derek left his keys in the car, and he shifted to go after Stiles. 

“I don’t think he’ll want you driving his car.” Or maybe even breathing on it. Who knew. Derek barely let Stiles ride in it, while most of the time everyone else just watched and dreamed. Derek’s car was almost … sacred to him. 

“Watch your head.” Isaac eased him into the car. 

Scott sighed out, “Derek’s going to be so mad.”

“Sure.” Isaac belted him in and rounded the car quickly. “But compared to what he’s going to do to the guys who took Stiles? I think we’re in the clear.”

The engine purred to life and a goofy expression settled on Scott’s face. “He’s going to kill them.” His wolf approved. His would do the same to anyone who threatened his mate. 

Isaac waved a hand. “After Gerard the Argents owe us one. They should just let Derek get his pound of flesh and be done with it.”

The car jerked forward a foot and died out. Scott lurched forward with the motion, hissing in compliant, feeing a fresh trickle of blood pass through his fingers. God, he was bleeding in Derek’s car. Derek was going to kill him.

“Oops?” Isaac smiled gently. “Did I mention I don’t have my driver’s license?”

“Then you can’t drive a stick, can you?”

“Nope.” Isaac beamed a little. “Sorry. Let me try again. I know the mechanics of stick, I just have to ease into it. I’ll go gentle for you.”

And the way Isaac was looking at him, like he was the most important thing in the world. It was … really very nice. Scott settled back against the seat and returned the look. 

He must have passed out. Maybe from the blood loss, likely from the pain. But the next thing he knew he was warm and soft, and while he still hurt, it was nothing like it had been. He was stretched out on a soft bed, head pillowed on something firm but inviting, and there was warmth pressed all along his back. 

Scott recognized the brown walls and scattered photos pinned up by tacks. While he’d never spent a long amount of time in Isaac’s room, he knew Isaac owned the blue jacket that was crumpled on the floor near the closet, and the red sneakers were something he’d worn to school the pervious week. Isaac was also the only person the Scott knew who kept his lacrosse gear hanging on a hook on the wall. Scott kept his shoved in the closet. 

That meant it was Isaac’s bed he was laying in, with his head on Isaac’s arm, and the warm weight of Isaac’s body against his back. Not to mention everything reeked of Isaac. 

“You know, we had a bet running for how long you’d sleep. You cost me twenty bucks.”

Scott swore he almost suffered whiplash at the sound of Stile’s voice.

“You’re okay!”

Relatively okay, at least. In the low light of Isaac’s room Scott could see gauze taped to Stiles’ forehead, and a series of finger shaped bruises all along his arms. When Stiles noticed his gaze, he said, “I’ve got two bruised ribs, too. But I got some killer Codine for that, so I’m pretty okay with that.”

Scott tried not to shift too much, concerned for a still sleeping Isaac, but couldn’t help asking, “What happened after they took you?”

Stiles waved his concerns off frivolously. “You know, the same old, same old. They yelled at me some, and called me a bunch of names, including a disgrace to the human race. They kicked me around a little, had the brilliant idea to shove me into an old, abandoned house just outside of town, and then bored me to death with their odd mixture of religious and anti-wolf bullshit. I nearly fell asleep, Scott, that’s how bad it was.”

Stiles was joking around, so everything had to be okay. 

“Derek saved you?”

Stiles looked insulted for his mate. “Was there ever a chance that he wasn’t going to come get me? And let this fine ass go to someone else?”

Scott let his chin scrape pleasantly against the soft skin on the inside of Isaac’s bicep. “Did he kill them?”

“Some,” Stiles allowed, almost apologetically. “The guy who bruised my ribs, and the one who was threatening to bend me over. That was fun, too. Derek took personal offense to that, naturally. But he did exercise some control. He let the other three live.”

“So there were five of them.”

“Yep,” Stiles verified. “And I think at least some of them were the result of an incestuous joining, if you catch my drift.”

Scott was still so tired, and it was so easy to stay relaxed back against Isaac, and just let his even breathing lull him back to sleep. But there were important questions to ask, and sleep could wait. Something told him he’d slept a lot already. 

“The Argents?”

“Well,” Stiles sighed, “out of all of us, I’m the one the Argents probably hate the least, probably my default human setting. So I talked to Allison’s dad, also because out of the pair of them, he’s the least crazy, and they’re kind of running out of family members. The guys who shot at us and grabbed me? They’re part of a bigger circle of hunters. Think a hunter’s facebook, if you will. Before Gerard bit the dust, he issued an alert for this entire area, warning hunters in the area about the Hale pack. I think it’s safe to assume that when he died, they all got a mass e-mail alert about us. And some of them came looking for a little revenge. The other Argents weren't involved at all.”

Scott wondered, “Are they going to let it slide? Derek killing a couple of them?”

“They broke the code.” Stile wheeled Isaac’s desk chair closer to the bed. “They came after me, to get to Derek, and that’s a no-no apparently, even for hunters. It’s like going after someone’s kid, considering I’m human. As far as the Argents are concerned, we didn’t start this, and Derek was within his rights to do what he did. They aren’t going to hold it against us, and they’re going to do what they can to stop and influx of new hunters to the area. This could go south really fast, and we don’t need some kind of werewolf-hunter war. No one wants that.”

With a nod, Scott noticed his throat was scratchy, and contrary to what his mom thought, he did actually pay enough attention to her when she talked to realize it meant he’d been out for a while. So he had to ask, “How long have I been asleep?” And why hadn’t Isaac woken? Isaac was still dead to the world, sandwiched between Scott and the wall, and didn’t seem to be waking any time soon. 

“The bullet never actually went in you,” Stiles said. “And over a day. Buddy, your bladder should be ready to burst by now.”

“But I was bleeding pretty bad,” Scott determined. “Did I get worse?”

“You wouldn’t have died,” Stiles pointed out, “But I guess Isaac got antsy about the amount of blood loss, and the fever you spiked, considering you guys never get sick. And he …I don’t know how he did it, Derek says it’s a wolf thing, but he was able to help you heal a little faster. Take away some of your pain. Help you sleep like you needed.”

“Is that why he’s still sleeping?” On more than one occasion Scott had put his very wonderful abilities to the test at Deaton’s. He’d helped as many animals as he could, and while he knew it could leave him feeling a little winded when he over did it, he was never left comatose, and that’s what it looked like Isaac was.

Stiles nudged the bed a bit with his foot. “People are different than dogs, Scott. It probably took a lot out of him. Derek thinks he’ll sleep for a lot longer, but he also thinks you probably need some rest too.”

For the first time, Scott could heard Derek just outside the room, feet shuffling just the slightest. Part of Scott was impressed that he’d even let Stiles that far out of sight. 

Scott yawned.

“Like I said,” Stiles laughed quietly, “you’re going to be tried for a while longer. You should rest. I get the feeling Isaac will try and squeeze the crap out of you if you try and leave.”

Stiles stood slowly, holding his ribs and wincing as he did so. “I should go. Oh, and don’t worry about your mom. I let her know that we had a little accident roughhousing, and she’s agreed to let Derek assert his Alpha rights to look out for you while you recover. But you should try and call her the next time you wake up. She’s trying, dude. That’s more than a lot of parents would.”

His mom wanted to find a cure for him being a werewolf. It wasn’t that she didn’t love him or accept him, but she thought he could be fixed. She thought he wanted to be fixed, and maybe that was his fault, for not telling her otherwise. But he couldn’t bring himself to tell her otherwise. 

“I will,” Scott promised. He pulled the blanket at his waist up a little higher and couldn’t help reaching up, his fingers tracing the pulse at Isaac’s wrist.

“One more thing,” Stiles promised quietly, already half out the door. They were in a house full of werewolves, and there was really no such thing as privacy or secrets, but Scott kind of appreciated the effort. “I know you really want to talk to Derek, about everything that’s been going on with you and Isaac. The next time you wake up, he’ll be here to answer everything you want to ask. But Scott, and I say this with all love and respect as your best friend, pull your head out of your ass. Okay? You already know what’s going on. You’ve known for a while now, even if you couldn’t really put a word to it. Because you watched me do it first.”

Stiles closed the door abruptly and Isaac shifted in closer, nose pressed against the cooling skin between Scott’s shoulder blades. 

No, he decided, he wasn’t thinking about it anymore. Later would be the time for Derek. Now was the time for more sleeping, and more cuddling. The cuddles, really. Scott had to admit. Top notch. Isaac was really good. 

It was light out the next time he was awake, and Isaac was kissing him. It was a little mind numbing to think about, but Isaac was crowding him into the mattress, touching him everywhere, and kissing him soundly.

If I were any other person, at any other time, he likely would have been absolutely traumatized. But this was Isaac, and for that alone Scott wouldn’t dare fight the lips on his, or the hands holding him close. Not even as he realized outside of his family, Isaac was only ever the second person he’d kissed.

And, well, this sort of cemented his bisexuality, didn’t it? Or pansexuality. Stiles was always saying wolves were pansexual. 

“You’re awake?”

Scott cracked a smile. “You know you’re only supposed to kiss people when they’re awake, right?” He could feel Isaac’s fingers tracing across his forehead, touching gingerly. 

“Just getting a head start.”

Scott wasn’t sure when they’d made the jump from puppy cuddles and heavy sniffing to making out, but it felt like a natural progression. He’d had to take Allison out on dates, and pay her special attention and go out with her. It seemed all Isaac wanted was to have him close--within arms reach. But maybe that was just the differences between girls and boys. 

“Oh,” Scott said quietly. “How’s that working out for you?”

Isaac tipped his head back a bit more on the pillow, deepening their next kiss. He mumbled against Scott’s lips, “Pretty well, actually.” He turned from Scott’s mouth after that, lips to the pulse point on his neck, teeth biting into the skin determinedly. He huffed out hot breath as he asked, “How are you feeling?”

Scott wiggled his toes. “Better than the last time I woke up. And even better than the time before that.” He hummed in appreciation at the suction on his skin. There’d be a mark he’d need to hide later. Allison had assured him during their relationship that those were the best kind.

A sharp knock sounded at Isaac’s door and Scott was a little surprised that Derek had afforded them that much forewarning. 

Scott bumbled for a second, trying to dislodge Isaac slightly, and reach for the blankets he’d kicked down to his feet as he slept. It was an aborted mission by the time Isaac gave him a warning growl, wanting him not to move, and Derek all but burst into the room. The Alpha stumbled and Scott just saw a hand following through with a strong push. Scott wasn’t certain if Stiles deserved all the awards, or none of them. 

Derek sat in the chair that Stiles had occupied the previous time Scott had been awake. He leaned forward, annoyance on his face, and said, “Isaac. Leave.”

Scott almost yelped with how hard Isaac bit him. 

“You want him to leave?” Scott was surprised, considering both he and Isaac were the topic at hand.

“Yes.” Derek looked unimpressed. “I already spoke to him. It will be easier if he isn’t here.” He deadpanned, “Growling like the pup he is.”

Isaac threw a leg over him, and it was uncertain for a moment if he only meant to hold Scott closer, or if he was actually just using the move as leverage. As it turned out, Isaac was doing both a bit of both. Scott received one last kiss, almost overwhelming in its intensity, but then Isaac was heaving himself up off the bed to stand next to it.

“He’s still recovering,” Isaac said, voice deep with warning.

Scott’s eyebrows shot up. “I’m fine.”

Derek pointed. “Go stand outside and lurk, Isaac.”

With that, Scott laughed. It was almost hard enough to pull at his side, but his wound felt much better, and he could tell instinctively that the wolfsbane was almost out of his system.

Isaac was lurking. Scott could smell him inches outside the door he’d just left through. He was probably leaning into the door, if anything, straining to hear something that his capabilities made easy to listen to. 

“Well?” Derek asked. 

Scott sighed. “I want to know what’s going on with me and Isaac. Whenever we’re together, it’s like we have this connection that goes beyond the pack. It feels better to be near him, and I feel more calm when he’s with me. Actually, it’s my wolf that feels more calm. I just feel more in control.”

Derek sized him up, then asked, “Are you slow?”

Scott made a face at him. “If I had any clue what was going on, I wouldn’t be asking you. And this is embarrassing enough as it is. I’ve never … I’ve never felt this way before.”

The Alpha made it look like it was just painful listening to him talk. 

It kind of felt like a dig when Derek said, “Isaac figured it out on his own.”

It dawned on Scott, watching Derek flounder and just hide it might better, that their leader didn’t exactly have any experience in whatever this was, that was happening. In fact, Scott knew for a fact that Derek had never been meant to be Alpha. His sister was, and then even his crazy Uncle Peter had known more about being an Alpha than Derek. Derek was finding his way along with the rest of them, trying to pretend like he had an idea for the sake of the rest of them.

“Just tell me,” Scott said, trying not to sound like he was begging. 

“It’s a biological reaction,” Derek allowed, probably being as gentle as he was capable of, “between two wolves, typically of the same pack. But it is a little uncommon in a pack this small.”

Scott echoed, “A biological reaction.”

“Between your wolves,” Derek continued. “It has nothing to do with your human side. It’s why you identified yourself as being primarily attracted to girls before this, and yet it’s your wolf who’s finding your male packmate suitable.”

So maybe Stiles was right. Maybe wolves were the great equalizer when it came to sexuality. 

“Suitable for what?”

A thump sounded outside the room and Scott could almost smell the anxiety rolling off Isaac.

“Suitable for a match.” Derek leveled at him. “Wolves are stronger in a pack than alone, agreed? In that same instance, wolves are stronger within their pack when they’re mated. That’s what your wolf is drawn to Isaac for. Isaac is a potential match for you. Your wolf is trying to scent out the viability of it. That’s the best way I can say it.”

Breath caught in his chest and Scott was glad he was still laying down. 

“It’s a good thing,” Derek said. 

Scott didn’t know if that was the case. A good thing? To have a mate? He was barely over Allison, and he’d only just survived losing her. He wasn’t certain he wanted to be back in a relationship, not even one that made him feel so good and so worthy. And wasn’t mating much more than just a relationship? Stiles said wolves mated for life. If Scott’s wolf was searching Isaac out as a mate, did that mean he’d be tied to Isaac for the rest of his life? He was only sixteen. 

There was an odd rumble of discontent in his chest. His wolf was angry at him.

“What about Isaac? The past week he’s been overly aggressive.” Possessive, too. Scott wasn’t complaining, because he’d enjoyed it at the time, but it was noticeable.

Derek’s head dipped a little. “He’s already chosen you.”

“What?” Scott forced himself to sit up. “His wolf?”

“He and his wolf,” Derek corrected. “Unlike you, Isaac is completely at peace with himself, both aspects of himself. With that, he’s been able to find his focus.”

“But he seems even more unfocused!” He thought in particular of the locker room, when Isaac had all but ambushed him in the shower. 

Derek’s smile looked almost malevolent. It was downright scary. And the Alpha said, “You may be testing the waters out with Isaac, but Isaac has chosen you. When a wolf chooses, it doesn’t take well to uncertainty. He’ll be more aggressive with you. That’s a fact, at least until you give him an answer either way. He won’t be able to stand the idea of you being around other people without an identifiable marker on you.” That explained the ache on his neck that was likely a bruise. “And in addition to that, he’ll want to keep you away from other potential mates. Anyone particularly intelligent, or strong, or cunning. Anyone who could prove to be a better match for you than him.”

Running a hand through his hair, Scott mused, “But this all feels so sudden. Isaac wasn’t exactly trying to rip Allison’s head off a couple of months ago.”

“He will now, if she ever touches you.” That startled Scott. “That’s part of the reason why he’s been staying here, and minimizing his contact with anyone outside the pack.”

A thought stuck Scott. “Is Stiles safe? Isaac won’t try and attack him, will he? Because I touch Stiles all the time--”

Derek looked less than pleased at that admission, and struggled to say, “We are all aware of how much you … come into contact with each other.”

“Nothing like that, dude.”

Derek’s fingers were curled into fists. “You reek of him all the time. But no one in this pack would misunderstand. Neither would Isaac move against Stiles. He’s safe.”

Happy to hear that Scott was able to relax a little. “You didn’t answer my question, Derek. This seems really sudden. How long has this been going on for Isaac? And why has it gotten so much worse lately?” There had been a time in his life, almost as hard as it was for him to remember, when Scot hadn’t had any real feelings for Isaac, and certainly hadn’t wanted to be around him. 

“There was likely a singular moment, either right before the end of your relationship with Allison, or right after, where your wolves recognized each other as equals. Isaac, unlike you, has been putting time and attention into trying to be at peace with himself. He’s mastered his wolf, that’s why he’s settled on a mate. You are more interested in getting into trouble with Stiles, so you haven’t, and your wolf isn’t ready.”

Scott had thought, right before Gerard made his final push to destroy them, right before the big game and Jackson’s attempt to stop himself, that everyone was going to flee Beacon Hills. He’d thought it was going to be him and Stiles against Gerard, and that the betas were going to run, and Peter was going to keep Derek distracted from helping. Scott had thought he was alone. 

But then Isaac had been there. Even with imminent death staring them straight in the face, Isaac hadn’t run. He’d stayed and helped. He’d been the catalyst for Scott moving away from being an omega, and truly accepting his place in Derek’s pack. 

“I think I know when it was,” Scott answered.

Derek said, “Isaac is pursuing you, because his wolf is ready. Yours isn’t, and you can’t rush it. But unlike you, your wolf also realizes what Isaac is doing. That’s why you’re so content to be near him, and it’s the reason for why you’ve been so close lately.”

“What if I choose him back?”

Isaac stopped outside the door, his feet had been pacing for the past few minutes, and now he was still. 

“You can’t.”

“Why not?”

Derek’s hands released from the fists they had been. “A man can’t choose yes, when his wolf isn’t ready. Your wolf isn’t ready. He won’t be ready until you fully accept him.”

Scott relayed, “Isaac said I’m nearly there. That stuff with Allison, and letting her go, and letting go of the hurt and the anger, it’s made me more in-tune with everything I am.”

Almost coldly, Derek said, “Humans who aren’t mates never work out. You always thought I was deliberately trying to hurt your relationship with Allison because I didn’t approve. You were right. I belonged to a pack before this with humans and wolves alike, but none of the humans were unmated. I’ve seen that no good can come from a human who isn’t mated to a wolf. It doesn’t work. It can’t.”

“Is that why you mated Stiles? So you could make it work?” Scott asked a little snappishly. Why did Derek get to bend the rules with Stiles, but Scott hadn’t gotten the chance with Allison?

Grouchy, Derek replied, “You can’t fool a wolf. It knows when a human, or another wolf for that matter, is a potential mate. Your wolf never recognized Allison for a reason. Whatever that may be, it was significant enough.”

How could it be that Allison wasn’t a potential mate? She was strong and smart and beautiful. And kind. At least she had been. Now she was ruthless. But his wolf hadn’t truly seen the last bit, not until the end. So what was she lacking? Would he ever know?

Scott folded is hands over his stomach and looked up to the ceiling. Part of him just wanted everything to go back to the way it was, before Isaac came into his full potential, and before Allison’s mother died. 

But that meant sacrificing the pack he had now, and the bonds that they all shared with each other. It meant giving up the way Isaac looked at him, and how happy Stiles was with Derek, and how Jackson and Lydia were fighting, but still inching closer to being a part of the pack. And he couldn’t sacrifice those things for anything else. 

“So what happens now?”

Derek stood. “What do you want to happen?”

“Derek,” Scott huffed. 

Unmoved, Derek repeated, “What do you want to happen? I think you’re under the impression that Isaac is going to try and force you into something you don’t want, or aren’t ready for.”

There was a lump in his throat, something he couldn’t quite clear out as he said to point out, “Mating involves sex.”

Derek looked even less enthused. “Did you read that online?” He shook his head slowly. “There is a sexual aspect to the relationship, it’s how mates declare their intentions to each other, and ward off interlopers, but sexual activity is not the main purpose of the mating bond. The best mates don’t rely on sex to affirm their bond. And mates do not willing hurt each other. Isaac couldn’t do that any more than he could attack Stiles for touching you. That’s the truth of it. He won’t do anything more than scent you and attempt to make you feel wanted. Not until you’re ready and you choose him in return. It’s both or nothing.”

It was a curious idea. “I can not choose him?”

Isaac snuffed in a forlorn way.

Derek nodded. “True mates are decided freely, with agreement by both parties. When the time comes, and you are ready to be mated, when you’ve fully accepted yourself, you can choose to reject Isaac’s offer.”

“Will that hurt him?” Was that like rejecting a marriage proposal? His skin crawled with the idea of hurting Isaac, and denying him. He didn’t want to deny Isaac. That much was truth. He wasn’t sure he wanted to mate Isaac, but neither did he want to dismiss him. There were too many thoughts and urges in him at the moment. Too much confusion.

Derek offered honestly, “It’s different with every wolf. If you choose to reject him he may mate with anther in the future. Or …”

“Or?”

Derek’s dark expression said it all. 

“Think about it,” the Alpha urged. “You don’t have to decide any time soon. Some wolves go years without committing to, or rejecting their potential mates. There is no time limit.”

Scott didn’t think he could string Isaac along for that long. It wouldn’t be fair to either of them. 

“But,” Derek said, surprising Scott, “if you do choose to not make a choice yet, it won’t cause Isaac’s feelings to lessen for you. They may do the opposite, and he won’t allow you to have any other type of romantic relationship while his wolf views you as his intended mate. There won’t be any more dates, or girlfriends, or even much of a social life. Your indecision will keep him close, and he won’t be able to stand the idea of you interacting heavily with anyone outside of this pack. You could drive him a little crazy, too. I’ve seen it happen.”

In one moment Derek was gone, and in the next Issac was back, burrowing under the blankets and back into Scott’s side. 

“Hey, hey,” Scott soothed, the urge to comfort Isaac coming so easily, “it’s okay.”

“Sorry,” Isaac mumbled into his shoulder. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen. I don’t know why it happened. But I can’t … I can’t stop it. I’ll die if I try.”

Isaac’s words left him shaking. He swore, “You won’t die. I won’t let you. We’re going to get through this. It’s going to be okay.”

“I won’t force you,” Isaac swore. “I couldn’t. Derek wasn’t lying. I would never--”

“I know you wouldn’t,” Scott combated fiercely. “I wouldn’t let you. I’d kill you if you tried.” Where that had come from, Scott didn’t know. But his wolf was pushing to the surface, powerful and aggressive.

Isaac balked for a moment, pulling back, and his face was impassive for a moment. And then a thin, almost feral smile stretched out across his lips and he rumbled, “You are a good match.”

Scott gasped loudly, back arching up off the bed as Isaac rutted against him, hands and mouth everywhere, demanding and puling and attacking. It was everything he’d always needed and never known, and he willingly gave himself over to Isaac who was almost frantic with need, hard against Scott’s thigh and blissful with his tongue. 

“Isaac,” Scott ground out, nails sliding along Isaac’s stomach as deep as he dared, dragging up red lines of irritation, making Scott feel powerful in his weakness to Isaac.

“Perfect,” Isaac growled, then stuttered, and came against Scott.

Scott pushed at him unhappily, something boiling beneath his skin. Derek had said sexual contact wasn’t something necessary for them, or for any other pair, but damn if it wasn’t amazing. Sex with Allison, even penetrative sex, was nothing compared to the way he and Isaac had just battled each other.

“Let me,” Isaac whined, palming at Scott’s boxers. “Let me.” 

Scott let him, torn between knowing they were moving to quickly for him to be comfortable, and the feeling of perfection that Isaac was giving him.

His heart seemed to swell with his climax, and then he was panting against Isaac, achy again, and tired and sated. 

“I have you,” Isaac promised, hand holding tight to the back of Scott’s head. 

Scott was sticky and overly warm, and Isaac was holding him too compactly for him to feel comfortable. And it was okay. He felt great, if only a little asthmatic from the turn of events. 

“Do you,” Scott breathed out, face flushed, “think anyone else heard that?”

Isaac laughed. “I think so.”

“Okay,” he mumbled.

“Still tired?” Isaac asked. His hold on Scott had turned to a steady pet, something calming for the both of them. 

“Mm-hm.” 

“Your mom probably thinks you’ve been kidnapped,” Isaac sighed out. “But you should sleep some more.”

“She’s probably going to ground me until I’m twenty-one.”

His words only made Isaac hug him tighter, and Scott resolved to speak more carefully in the future. Isaac had chosen him as his mate, and obviously Scott’s wolf wanted to return the sentiment. So for the moment, caution was probably going to be his greatest ally. And he didn’t want to upset Isaac. Never again, if he could help it.

“Won’t let her,” Isaac swore. “Won’t let her keep you from me.”

Scott teased, “You might just need to move in after all.”

Isaac mouthed at Scotts neck and Scotty laughed a little. He wasn’t going to be surprised in the least bit if he did come home from school one day to find Isaac and a box full of his things waiting on the front porch. 

The thought wasn’t a bad one. 

There was a bit more time for resting after that, and then Scott couldn’t hold back his appetite anymore or his bladder. The pair of them ended up down in the kitchen, surrounded by pack, eating takeout that Lydia had mercifully brought with her. 

Scott had kind of expected there to be all kinds of awkward, but mostly there was chatter about school and the out of town hunters, and mostly about how Lydia was never putting Chinese food in her car ever again.

“It’s going to smell like egg rolls for weeks!” Maybe longer, considering the werewolf nose.

“Speaking of,” Stiles said, still bracing his side as he stretched across the gigantic dinning table they’d found at a garage sale a week earlier, “nobody had better have eaten my egg rolls. I’ll--”

Derek tugged him back into his seat in a manner that was deceptively gently, and plopped down an entire Styrofoam box of egg rolls. 

Lydia looked smug. “You were saying?”

Stiles held up his hands and said, “You’re the best.”

That night, eating together, Scott had never felt more close to his pack. It might have had something to do with the way Isaac’s thigh pressed against his under the table, but it also could have been the way Erica was smiling for the first real time since Boyd had died protecting her. Or maybe when Lydia said hesitantly, “Jackson wanted me to ask … well, he doesn’t want me to, but that’s because he’s too big of a jackass to say it himself. But he wants to know if it’s okay for him to be here on next Wednesday.”

Scott frowned. “That’s …”,

“The full moon,” Derek answered for him.

And wasn’t that surprising? Jackson, the one who resisted the most, especially after the Kanima incident, was actually reaching out to them? Even if he was using Lydia to do it, that was something. 

Stiles swallowed down a mouthful of egg roll and said, “Tell him to be here.” Derek looked happy with Stiles’ words. “Tell him he belongs here, and if at all possible, to not bring his bitching with him. But he can bring Danny if he wants to. I kind of miss not being the only human.”

“Danny--” Isaac started.

“Totally knows,” Stiles insisted. “About the wolf thing. Trust me. I know. Best friends tell each other everything. After Jackson dying, and then not being dead, and Gerard and the Kanima … just trust me. Jackson came clean weeks ago. That and I saw Danny digging around some of the same old books in the library that Scott and I were when Peter first bit him.”

There was almost a simultaneous turn of heads to Derek, waiting for his answer to the proposition.

Scott wanted to snort at the notion that Derek would say no. Stiles had been the one who’d asked. That was enough. 

Dinner didn’t finish for another hour, but it was a good hour. And after that he and Isaac drifted out to the front porch for a bit of privacy, their conversation hidden behind the argument Erica had gotten into with Derek with over the ongoing Hale house restoration. Stiles was trying to referee the tile verses linoleum debate. 

“I want to be honest with you,” Scott said, leaning against the banister. “Because I care about you, and I never want to hurt you, not in the way that I know I can if I’m not careful.”

“About us?” Isaac guessed. 

With a nod Scott braced his hands in front of him. Unabashed, he said, “Derek said the biggest difference in us is that you’ve fully accepted yourself, and I haven’t. And before, once, you told me the same. You said I wasn’t whole, not like you were. And the truth is, I don’t know what’s holding me back.”

He dared a look over to where Isaac was perched nearby on the railing. The wood looked barely strong enough to support him but Isaac was balanced perfectly and listening with a concentrated look on his face. 

“I thought it might be Allison,” Scott offered honestly, “But we’ve been broken up for a while now. So it couldn’t be that, right? Or, you know, maybe it’s my mom? She’s the most important person in the world to me, and I know she loves me and she’s tried her best to protect me, but I know she’s scared of my wolf. She’s scared of what I become, and I guess, maybe, who I really am. The wolf is who I am, and I might not be able to accept it fully until she does.”

Isaac pursed his lips and said, “My dad never would have accepted the wolf.”

Scott felt flush with anger. “Your dad was an abusive asshole,” he snapped. “And if he were still alive I’d--”

“I kind of like this part of you,” Isaac grinned, looking almost angelic with the setting sun behind him. “The feral, protective part, that is.”

Scott tried to relax. It was worrying, for as much as Isaac seemed to calm and balance him, he also brought out such anger and rage that Scott had never known before. He didn’t now if it was a good or bad thing yet. Or maybe something else. 

He took a deep breath and said, “Whatever it is holding me back, the fact is, I can’t say yes or no to us being mates until it’s all worked out. I can’t even start to decide, and I get the feeling I shouldn’t. It’s a matter for the wolf probably more than me, and I’m still too out of it with him.”

“You know,” Isaac said, “that’s part of your problem. You just think of him as this creature that comes out once a month, twice in a blue moon. But he’s not. He’s part of you. The bite … it doesn’t turn us into monsters. It doesn’t make us something we aren’t. I think, and so does Derek, that all the bite does is amplify our biggest fears and our biggest issues. We feel more. We’re more aggressive because there’s more anger, and we’re more protective because our capacity for love grows. Control is the hard part, but just because it’s hard to control, doesn’t make it bad or evil.” Isaac’s feet swung in front of him. “The wolf is you. Your are the wolf. He’s not some separate entity, he’s just a different part of you that you can’t see or touch. You can only feel. Think of it like that. And stop trying to separate him from you. You can only accept him when you realize you’re only accepting a part of yourself.”

“I’ll … I can try.” 

“Good.”

Scott cleared his throat. “So I may not be able to tell you anything about us being mates, or potential mates, or whatever we are, I can promise you that I won’t string you along. I won’t keep you waiting and guessing. The second I know, I promise you, I’m going to tell you. Yes or no, no matter what, I’ll tell you. You’ll know as soon as I do.”

“Thanks,” Isaac said, sounding grateful and hopeful all at once. “That’s great, but I want you to promise me something.”

“What?” Scott asked inquisitively. He had a feeling he would be willing to agree to just about anything. He watched the way Stiles wound Derek around his finger so effortlessly, and now he felt like he was the one all twisted up. It wasn’t a bad feeling.

“Be honest,” Isaac requested, and it wasn’t what Scott had expected. “Be honest with yourself. If the answer is no, if your wolf rejects me, don’t sugar coat it. Don’t try and spare my feelings. Just give it to me straight and let me work it out on my own. I don’t want you trying to soften the blow. And I don’t want you lying to yourself and thinking that we can make it work if your wolf doesn’t want something that you do.” Isaac eyed him warily. “If you do.”

Scott leaned forward on his forearms. “I thought it was just my wolf who was attracted to you, or maybe that he was first. I’m kind of thinking now it was pretty mutual and I’m just realizing it. So you don’t have to worry about that. But I will promise if you want me to.”

Isaac nodded, satisfied. 

Scott felt his neck heating as he felt urged to say, “I know when I’m ready my wolf could say no, and I know you’re ready for that, but I’m pretty much betting it’s going to go in your favor.”

“Really?” Isaac hopped down from the railing and slinked over to Scott’s side. “What makes you say that?”

The last thing Scott wanted to do was get his hopes up for rejection, but the truth was the truth. “Because of how you make me feel.” And Scott was done avoiding the truth. Any of it. All of it. “You make me feel awesome.”

“Awesome?” Isaac laughed. 

Scott laughed too. “I know, that’s a crappy way to say it, but that’s the best word. Honest. I feel amazing when you’re around. Even now, incomplete as I am. You make me happy and I just physically feel better. I know that you’re here to listen when I need to say something, and give me advice and--”

“You’re usually the one giving me advice,” Isaac interjected.

“Stop interrupting,” Scott said sharply, but with a smile. “Because this isn’t easy to say. I was only attracted to girls up until about a week ago--until your wolf presented its choice and my own took notice. And I’m not so good with words, Stiles is much better, and he usually does all the talking for the both of us. But I’m trying. And you make me feel safe. You smell like home and you feel like security. You’re not just my packmate. You’re who I trust to watch my back, even over my Alpha. You’re the person I’d give anything to keep safe and happy. That’s a weird feeling. I never had that before, not even with Allison. So considering that, I’m kind of thinking that my wolf thinks you’re a pretty good candidate, too. I think he’s going to agree.”

“Are you okay with that?” Isaac asked carefully. “Like you said, up until a week ago, you were straight.”

Scott let his head hang down. “I’m a wolf. We don’t exist in those labels, right? Gender doesn’t matter. Only the possibility for a best case pairing.”

“I just want you to be okay with what you’re feeling.”

Scott could hear the bickering still going on in the house, and he used the distraction to cover Isaac’s nearby hand with his own and squeeze tightly. “I’m sixteen. I’m supposed to be perpetually uncomfortable with myself. It goes with the territory. But if you’re asking me if I think I’m going to go running for the hills any time soon, the answer is no. Plus, I think you might go chasing after me if I tired.”

“Maybe,” Isaac agreed bashfully, his cheek pressing against Scott’s. 

“It’s a nice feeling,” Scott confided. “To know that someone is willing to chase you. To not give you up so easily.”

Isaac warned, “You say yes and mate with me, and you’ll never be able to be with anyone else. I won’t give you up ever, no matter the circumstances.”

The idea of being with anyone else but Isaac in either a romantic or sexual manner, was a bit stomach churning. Of course, the sudden urge to engage in an kind of sexual behavior with Isaac was equally as unbalancing. That had come out of nowhere. 

“If I agreed to be your mate, I probably wouldn’t mind that so much. I might not mind it right now, either.”

Isaac looked a little stunned at his response, and Scott thought back to the conversation he’d had with Stiles about not hurting Isaac, and taking extra care with him. Scott could almost believe that Isaac was filled with insecurities and self doubt. And if that was really the case, Scott vowed to convince him otherwise. 

“Hey,” Isaac said suddenly, voice cracking a little. “Do you want to get something to eat sometime?”

Scott released his hold on Isaac and gave into the urging in his chest to press a chaste kiss to the taller teen’s jaw. “We just ate. A lot, too. No more food for a while, or I might explode.”

“I didn’t mean now,” Isaac said, clearly tripping over his words, a little out of breath. Scott could practically feel the frantic beating of his heart through his skin. “Later? Tomorrow? Maybe? Whenever you want. We can go anywhere. You pick. We’ll--”

“Isaac.” Scott kissed him again, this time more firmly, his fingers holding the other male in place. “I’m considering you as a potential mate, as a true mate. A perfect pairing. I don’t think you need to be anxious about asking me out on a date.”

Isaac’s hands bracketed Scott’s hips. “I want to do this right,” he said determinedly. 

“You’re doing just fine.” Scott kissed him again and grinned into it, feeling Isaac inch him up against the railing. 

A flash startled them.

Scott turned sharply to see Lydia in the front window, her phone out in front of her. “I got it!” she called back into the house. “Erica! I got them kissing! I’m going to upload it to facebook!”

The beautiful sound of Erica giggling along with Lydia followed, and her urging to do so. 

“It’s like we’re in kindergarten,” Scott said with a bit of shock, relishing in the feeling of Isaac’s fingers still digging into the skin at his hips. 

“At least I’m not pulling your pigtail,” Isaac said, then his teeth sought out Scott’s earlobe and Scott nearly knocked the both of them off center at his jolt. 

Erica shrieked, “Get it up on myspace, too!”

“No one uses myspace any more,” Lydia argued. “I’m going to twitpic this.”

Scott wrapped his arms around Isaac’s shoulders. They rested easily, and as Isaac bit playfully on his lobe, he whispered, “Want to know a secret?”

He could feel Isaac shudder, hard against him as he said, “Sure.”

Scott laved against Isaac’s jugular pulse point and said, “We’re going to say yes.”

“We?” Isaac’s voice peaked as Scott bit down. 

“We,” Scott repeated. “The wolf and I. Together. Both of us. We.”

Isaac hitched him up excitedly and Scott rumbled his approval as he continued to mark his potential mate. 

His intent was stated, and now he waited for Isaac’s response.


End file.
